"AVA!"

He kept shouting my name, and I found it to be extremely annoying. 'What's wrong with him?' I thought. Then again, I did hurt him a while ago.

"You lied to us, don't you?! said Bart. "Then, you give me no choice!"

He pulled out that metal cube controller and gave me an order. "Ava, I command you to--"

Crimson tendrils pierced that controller in an instant and sprang back to me.

"Oh, so this is what it looks like up close," I said, brus.h.i.+ng my hand over the cube. "Hmm, might as well destroy it."

The tendrils split into dozens of smaller sp.a.w.n and shredded the controller into pieces.

Bart, in his bitter expression, shouted his dissatisfaction over what I did. "AVA! You'll regret this!"

I sighed. "He's annoying. Can I kill him now?"

My Aegis responded in its monotone voice. "Well, technically you can. Since the others are occupied with Gheele. Killing him now would do you a good favor, eh?"

"Absolutely."

I let go of my grip and freefell to the ground, countering Bart's emerald blade with my tendrils. I distanced myself straight away from him after I landed.

"This time, I'm going to kill you for sure. You'll pay for what you did to Papa," I said, my voice was trembling with excitement.

Who wouldn't be excited at that point, where you got your revenge against someone you really hated all your life. It was a blessing for sure.

Bart thrust his emerald blade at me and I severed that arm of his with my deep blue spikes. He groaned and I sent my crimson tendrils to his chest, skewering him in the process.

"HOW DARE YOU, AVA!" yelled Bart. He tried to cut the tendrils with his already-regenerated arm, but my dark blue spikes had his limbs in check. It coiled around his arms and pulled him down to Earth.

"You should stay put," I suggested.

Bart manifested cl.u.s.ters of emerald crystals from his front and destroyed my tendrils. He struggled to get back up on his feet.

"I said, stay put," I repeated.

My dark blue spikes heaved his entire body in mid-air and pulled at his limbs.

"AAARGGGHH!"

He resisted the pain shooting all over his body and I commended him for it. Despite his appearance, his tolerance for pain was admirably high.

Not until I did something more painful to him.

"I'll try not to sever your limbs, Bart. I don't want you to regenerate," I said, looking at his powerlessness.

"Don't get c.o.c.ky, Ava! I'll swear..." Bart formed two emerald blades from his arms and it cut my spikes.

"Oh, I guess you didn't hear me well."

"AVA!"

Bart charged at me, only for my deep blue scythe and crimson sickle from my back to ravage his shoulders. He screamed and formed his own emerald sickle, coming for my head.

"You're not used to fighting long-range," I mumbled. A crimson s.h.i.+eld sprouted from my shoulder and elongated itself to block his attack. "And, you're no match for me."

My Aegis weapons dug themselves further into his body, and he fell onto his knees.

"You're not used to pain, and for that, I thank you," I said, approaching him.

"WHY YOU--"

I formed a few more crimson sickles and it pierced his legs.

"Aegis," I whispered.

"I'll disable some limiters for you," it replied.

With that, I yanked Bart's hair and forced him to stare into my eyes. "If you form any Aegis crystals, I will..."

I made my point when my sickles twisted a bit on his wounded area and he groaned.

"d.a.m.n you... AVA!"

"I see that you don't understand my words." I formed dark blue tendrils, cutting open Bart at his sides.

"AAARRGGHH!"

Somehow, one way or another, I felt happy. Bart was about to be dealt incredible pain by me, and he did not have much power to overcome it.

A malicious form of ecstasy overwhelmed me.

"Should I try, Aegis?" I said.

"Well, only one way to find out. After thinking about the possibility of that 'absorption' specialty you have right now, I'm leaning towards this outcome. Seventy percent."

"Huh. Not quite convincing. It's worth a try nonetheless," I said.

My legs slowly walked to Bart and I put my hands covered with dark blue crystals on his head. He tried to form his emerald crystals but my weapons subdued him in the process.

"Don't move..." I muttered.

I concentrated my mind, focusing on the one 'absorption' I could think of. If my theory was right, I could disable Bart permanently right then.

Nothing happened for a minute before a flash of red and blue light appeared on my hands. It grew stronger and stronger as time pa.s.sed.

"ARGH! Stop! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!" yelled Bart. His face was contorted into an expression filled with anguish and immense pain. The emerald crystals that formed around his body beforehand dissolved into thin air.

"It's happening..." I mumbled.

A surge of energy flowed through my arms, dealing a great amount of pain with it. It did not last long, as the blinding light soon disappeared.

Bart was gasping, his eyes were wide open.

"You... what?" He realized an oddity. "It can't be... AVA!" He pulled his arm and my sickle cut through his flesh deeper. Red blood sprayed out from the wound, sending sharp coppery smell right into my nostrils.

"How's it, Ava?" asked my Aegis.

"I don't feel any different, but..." I retreated all of my Aegis weapons back into me and raised my hand. I gaped when emerald crystals started to cl.u.s.ter around my right arm, gradually wrapping the entirety of it. My skin around that area felt tingly, embracing the slight cold touch of the crystals.

Bart was shaking. "No... NO, NO, NO, NO... NOOO!" He attempted an escape with his battered up body, though there were only walls of orange crystals about fifty meters around us. Of course, the other Aegis Users were on the other side.

"I feel pity for him," I said. "For the fact that he will not die soon enough. I want to torture him until Gheele had finished with the Users."

"Hmm, I know what you're thinking. But it's best if you help him and Caesar. Since, you know, the C.U can't control you anymore," said Aegis.

"That's true. Then, I'll make this quick."

I dragged myself to the pathetic figure of Bart, climbing his way up the hundred-meter-tall walls. He refused to look back at me.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

I sighed at his futile attempt. "I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to do the same thing you did to Papa. Perhaps even more painful."

Him trying to run away was understandable. From the looks of it, his Aegis was no longer functional. And I concluded that it was because of my 'absorption' specialty. It helped me to extract the essence of Bart's Aegis and transferred it to me permanently.

Just the mere thought of what I wanted to do to him filled my chest with exhilaration, zest, and delirium.

"What if I..." My hands formed an emerald crystal the size of an eraser and I cut it with my crimson blade, forcing it to fall to the ground. Soon after, I heard subtle soundwaves coming out of it.

"I think Bart could be controlled like this," I said.

He paused from climbing and dropped back down. He then approached me with that emerald eyes of his.

I picked up the emerald crystal and shoved it down his mouth.

"Bart, you'll obey whatever I said."

He nodded. And for that alone, a creepy grin formed on my face.

"Stand still, and don't budge. Don't make any sound either," I ordered.

"I think you can just need to think of an order in your mind, Ava. You don't need to announce it," said Aegis in my head.

"Oh, I suppose so."

Looking at Bart's defenseless state excited me even more.

So, I manifested an emerald scythe from my back for me to hold in my hands. Bart sat down with that expressionless face of his and I struck at his shoulder. More blood spluttered out from his already existing wound, while he kept his emotions fairly restrained.

However, it was not enough.

"How is it?!" I said. "It's painful, isn't it? But you did to Papa even worse than this."

I heaved my scythe up high and it plummeted at his right arm, severing it completely. Tendons and white bone emerged from that bloodied stump as red blood relentlessly poured out.

"This is not enough."

I picked the scythe back and chopped at his left arm repeatedly, each time was stronger than before. The arm fell off and I s.h.i.+fted my strikes to it.

Again, and again, and again, and again, until that left arm of his was turned into mincemeat.

I realized my face was stained with his blood.

"But this is not enough..."

"Ava," called Aegis.

"Will he die if I did the same thing he did to Papa, or even worse?" I asked Aegis.

"Maybe. Considering Hope's previous injuries, and Bart's wounds right now, he would be dead if you strike him anywhere near his vital organ with your scythe. That regeneration he has from you controlling him is not that effective, you see."

The scythe dissolved back into my back. "Oh, I see. I should kill him now then. I don't want to drag him with me. That'll be annoying."

And so, I ordered for him to stay there, still covered in severe wounds.

That time, I manifested an emerald blade from my right palm. And with it, I stabbed at Bart's chest.

Over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And.

Over.

I paused and let the exhiliration throbbed inside me.

Bart Andersson was half-dead, at least that was he looked like.

An idea popped up from my mind.

"Or, I'll just make him starve to death. Will his regeneration prevent that?" I asked.

"Nope. His regeneration can only go so far as repairing his tissues. Lack of protein will also disable his regeneration sometime after," said Aegis.

"Oh... okay."

I walked away from Bart, quite satisfied with the outcome. He was a slave to me, forever.

"I'll help Gheele, I suppose. Though I doubt he'll let me."

Crimson pincers appeared from my back and stabbed at the wall, slowly helping me climb it without having to put much effort.

"So, Ava, you have three Aegis right now. The most I think an Aegis User ever possess," said Aegis.

"That's right. There's one thing I want to try after I land on the other side of this wall."

"What is it?" my Aegis prompted.

"I wonder if there's a limit to how much Aegis a person could possess. I want to find out soon, maybe starting with Alicia."